As is well-known, Nansha Islands in the South China Sea(SCS) are of important strategic position and invaluable ecological value. Therefore, many attentions are paid to either the political and legal aspects of expose...As is well-known, Nansha Islands in the South China Sea(SCS) are of important strategic position and invaluable ecological value. Therefore, many attentions are paid to either the political and legal aspects of exposed features that matter in the maritime delimitation, or the physical and geographical characteristics of coral reefs that are the predominant structures of these islands. However, it seems that they consistently lose the connection of sciences and humanities in the research of Nansha Islands in the SCS. In this study, we carry out a combinative research, based on remote sensing data using satellite imagery analysis together with historical materials using literature investigation, so as to reconsider to the geographical characteristics of Nansha Islands from a standpoint of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS). After thoroughly appraising the statuses of these newly formed sand cays, several high tide features of Nansha Islands are identified. By means of the comparison of satellite images coupled with reference to nautical charting and sailing directions during different time periods, we can conclude that the statuses of these high tide features formed on reef platforms are relatively stable due to the growth of reef-building organisms although their migration patterns are subject to external disturbances, and hence the cursory judgment pursuant to the relevant provisions of the UNCLOS about whether a coral reef belongs to a low tide elevation only based on outdated references or ex parte evidences is not reliable. Moreover, it is accordingly justified to improve further development and perfection of the maritime legislation by eliminating such ambiguities with the growth of coral reefs and the evolution of sand cays being both taken into account.展开更多
The topographic factor(LS factor),derived from the multiplication of the slope length(L)and slope steepness(S)factors,is a vital parameter in soil erosion models.Generated from the digital elevation model(DEM),the LS ...The topographic factor(LS factor),derived from the multiplication of the slope length(L)and slope steepness(S)factors,is a vital parameter in soil erosion models.Generated from the digital elevation model(DEM),the LS factor always varies with the changing DEM resolution,i.e.,the LS factor scale effect.Previous studies have found the phenomenon of the LS factor scale effect,but the underlying causes of this phenomenon has not been well explored.Therefore,how the DEM resolution affects the LS factor and how the scale effect of the L and S factors influence the LS factor scale effect remains unclear.To address these problems,we collected 20 watersheds from the Guangdong Province with different topographic reliefs,and compared the corresponding L,S and LS factors at 10-m and 30-m resolution DEMs.Our results indicate that the S factor,heavily influenced by slope underestimation in coarse-resolution DEMs,makes a difference in the LS factor scale effect.In addition,the LS factor scale effect becomes less significant with increasing reliefs,suggesting the possibility of using 30-m DEM for LS calculation in rugged terrains.Our findings on the underlying mechanisms of the LS factor scale effect help to identify the uncertainty in the LS factor estimation,thereby enhancing the accuracy of soil erosion assessment,particularly in regions with different topographic characteristics and contribute to more effective soil conservation strategies and decision-making.展开更多
The Yellow River(YR),China’s second-longest river,remains understudied regarding its greenhouse gases(GHGs)emissions,particularly the impacts of urban drainage ditches and wastewater treatment facilities on regional ...The Yellow River(YR),China’s second-longest river,remains understudied regarding its greenhouse gases(GHGs)emissions,particularly the impacts of urban drainage ditches and wastewater treatment facilities on regional GHGs dynamics.This study investigated methane(CH_(4))and carbon dioxide(CO_(2))concentrations,fluxes and stable carbon isotopes(δ^(13)C-CH_(4)and δ^(13)C-CO_(2))across six main stream,three ditches,and one wastewater treatment site along the upper Lanzhou section of the YR,spanning from the urban entrance(36.176°N,103.449°E)to the exit of Lanzhou city(36.056°N,104.020°E).Measured CH_(4)diffusion fluxes in mainstem sites ranged from 0.01 to 2.58 mmol·m^(−2)·d^(−1)(mean:0.36 mmol·m^(−2)·d^(−1)),while ebullitive fluxes(gas bubbles)ranged from 0.01 to 18.89 mmol·m^(−2)·d^(−1)(mean:0.90 mmol·m^(−2)·d^(−1)).CO_(2)diffusion fluxes varied between 9.16–92.80 mmol·m^(−2)·d^(−1)(averaged:39.11 mmol·m^(−2)·d^(−1))at these locations.Ebullition(bubble)fluxes accounted for 53.1%±22.4%(range:9.0%to 98.4%)to total CH_(4)emissions(diffusion plus ebullition),with peak fluxes occurring during summer,indicating its significance as a CH_(4)transport mechanism.Notably,both diffusion CH_(4)and CO_(2)fluxes and ebullitive CH_(4)rates at ditch sites substantially exceeded those in mainstream reaches.The lowest CH_(4)and highest CO_(2)concentrations were observed at a wastewater treatment site,likely resulting from the removal of high organic loads.Acetoclastic methanogenesis—the process converting acetate-derived methyl groups to CH_(4)—was identified as the dominant production pathway in both mainstream and ditch environments.CH_(4)and CO_(2)flux magnitudes in the upper YR(Lanzhou section)were comparable to those observed in subtropical Yangtze River tributaries.These results demonstrate that anthropogenic influences significantly enhance CO_(2)/CH_(4)emissions,and the lateral exports of dissolved carbon(DIC and DOC)in the main stream site was quantified.,which cannot be overlooked.The findings emphasize the critical need to account for pronounced spatiotemporal variations in arid-region GHG fluxes to improve basin-scale estimates for the YR.展开更多
By using soil erosion maps of four different time periods and a digital elevation model (DEM), in combination withthe remote sensing and GIS technologies, soil erosion dynamics in Xingguo County of Jiangxi Province in...By using soil erosion maps of four different time periods and a digital elevation model (DEM), in combination withthe remote sensing and GIS technologies, soil erosion dynamics in Xingguo County of Jiangxi Province in South Chinawere analyzed on both temporal and spatial scales in soils of different parent materials, altitudes and slopes. The resultsshowed that from 1958 to 2000 severe soil erosion was coming under control with a decreasing percentage of the land undersevere erosion. It was also found that the soils developed from Quaternary red clay, granite and purple shale were moresusceptible to soil erosion and that areas sitting between 200 to 500 m in altitude with a slope less than 3° or between7° to 20° where human activities were frequent remained to be zones where soil erosion was most likely to occur. Theseareas deserve special attention in monitoring and controlling.展开更多
How snow cover changes in response to climate change at different elevations within a mountainous basin is a less investigated question. In this study we focused on the vertical distribution of snow cover and its rela...How snow cover changes in response to climate change at different elevations within a mountainous basin is a less investigated question. In this study we focused on the vertical distribution of snow cover and its relation to elevation and temperature within different elevation zones of distinct climatology, taking the mountainous Manasi River Basin of Xinjiang, Northwest China as a case study. Data sources include MODIS 8-day snow product, MODIS land surface temperature(LST) data from 2001 to 2014, and in situ temperature data observed at three hydrological stations from 2001 to 2012. The results show that:(1) the vertical distribution of snow areal extent(SAE) is sensitive to elevation in low(<2100 m) and high altitude(>3200 m) regions and shows four different seasonal patterns, each pattern is well correspondent to the variation of temperature.(2) The correlation between vertical changes of the SAE and temperature is significant in all seasons except for winter.(3) The correlation between annual changes of the SAE and temperature decreases with increasing elevation, the negative correlation is significant in area below 4000 m.(4) The snow cover days(SCDs) and its long-term change show visible differences in different altitude range.(5) The long-term increasing trend of SCDs and decreasing trend of winter temperature have a strong vertical relation with elevation below 3600 m. The decreasing trend of SCDs is attributed to the increasing trend of summer temperature in the area above 3600 m.展开更多
A detailed survey of the reefs in the Nansha Islands＇ sea that are of strategic importance is conducive to their future development. In this study, a total of 50 Landsat 8 operational land imager（OLI） images were u...A detailed survey of the reefs in the Nansha Islands＇ sea that are of strategic importance is conducive to their future development. In this study, a total of 50 Landsat 8 operational land imager（OLI） images were used to analyze the geological features and spectral characteristics of the Nansha reefs. The exposed islands/sandbanks,reef flats and sub-tidal reefs were identified with the near-infrared band, the red and green bands, and the blue band, respectively. Based on the relationships among various characteristics and bands illustrated in the OLI images, the maximum between-cluster variance threshold algorithm（OTSU method） and the mathematical morphology were employed to extract characteristic parameters of the spatial geometry of the reefs from top to bottom, which were subsequently operated by a series of post-processing methods such as vectorization,simplification and topological analysis. Among the 132 standalone reefs and 16 atolls that are identified in the study, four reefs have yet to be named in the Standard Names of Various Islands in the South China Sea and the website Nansha Islands Online（http：//www.nansha.org/）. Another 24 ones are exposed to the atmosphere even during high tides. Taiping Island with an area of 0.57 km^2 represents the largest exposed geological feature. This study demonstrated the applicability of medium-resolution satellite images to derive the coral reef information effectively and thus provided information for the related departments that are responsible to manage the coast.An improved resolution of multispectral bands with the panchromatic band in higher spatial resolution（15 m for OLI image） is expected to provide an optimum satellite based approach to map marine habitats.展开更多
The hallmark of development in the Yangtze River Delta(YRD) of East China has been sprawling urbanization. However, air pollution is a significant problem in these urban areas. In this paper, we investigated and analy...The hallmark of development in the Yangtze River Delta(YRD) of East China has been sprawling urbanization. However, air pollution is a significant problem in these urban areas. In this paper, we investigated and analyzed the air pollution index(API) in four cities(Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Ningbo) in the YRD from 2001 to 2012. We attempted to empirically examine the relationship between meteorological factors and air quality in the urban areas of the YRD. According to the monitoring data, the API in Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou slightly declined and that in Ningbo increased over the study period. We analyzed the inter-annual, seasonal, and monthly variations of API, from which we found that the air quality had different temporal changes in the four cities. It was indicated that air quality was poor in winter and spring and best in summer. Furthermore, different weather conditions affected air quality level. The wind direction was considered as an important and influential factor to air pollution, which has an impact on the accumulating or cleaning processes of pollutants. The air quality was influenced by the different wind directions that varied with seasons and cities.展开更多
Jiangsu has the most abundant tidal flat resources among China＇s coastal provinces. To ease the conflict between the growing population and shrinking usable land and to promote regional sustainable development, large...Jiangsu has the most abundant tidal flat resources among China＇s coastal provinces. To ease the conflict between the growing population and shrinking usable land and to promote regional sustainable development, large-scale coastal reclamation development activities have been performed in Jiangsu Province since 1949. The present study has integrated multi-source remote sensing images during 1974 to 2012 by using a Multi-point Fast Marching Method （MFMM） to extract the Jiangsu coastal reclamation areas for different time periods. The temporal and spatial patterns of the extent and elevation of the reclamation areas were analysed in order to determine the unused potential for future reclamation. It will provide information necessary to support the development and construction of tidal flats in Jiangsu. Results show that： （1） the reclaimed tidal fiats along the Jiangsu coast cover more than 19.86×10^4 hm^2, of which 13.97×10^4 hm^2 is located in Yancheng, 4.84×10^4 hm^2 in Nantong, and 1.05×10^4 hm^2 in Lianyungang; （2） the average elevation of the reclaimed Jiangsu tidal flats has gradually decreased over the last 40 years, while those in Dongtai and Rudong have showed particularly accelerated decrease since the 1990s; and （3） in 2012, very few unused tidal flats two meters above the sea level are left along the Jiangsu coast, and mainly concentrated in Yancheng. As there are still reserving some coastal land resources between 0-2 m, providing us with a potential for future development. All of these findings may be useful for researchers and local authorities for the development and utilization of tidal flat resources in Jiangsu.展开更多
Using multitemporal Landsat TM/OLI images at a 10-year interval, in this study, we （1） extracted information of spatial location, length, and sinuosity of coastline and landscape configuration, diversity and fragmen...Using multitemporal Landsat TM/OLI images at a 10-year interval, in this study, we （1） extracted information of spatial location, length, and sinuosity of coastline and landscape configuration, diversity and fragmentation in the bay areas of Xiangshan Bay （XB）, China and Tampa Bay （TB）, USA from 1985 to 2015; （2） constructed indices of artificial coastlines and human disturbance on bay area landscapes; and （3） explored and discussed the impacts of human activities on changes of coastlines and landscape types in the two bay areas. Our analysis results demonstrate the following five points. （1） During the past 30 years, the lengths of natural coastline in XB and TB shrank, while the lengths of their artificial coastline increased first and then maintained stable. Since there were different influences of human activities on coastlines and landscape types between the two bay areas, XB experienced dramatic changes in parts of coastline geomorphologies and continuous decrease of coastline sinuosity, while, in TB, there was a little change in coastline geomorphologies and its coastline sinuosity was almost unchanged. （2） The intensity of human activities in XB was continuously enhanced from 1985 to 1995, and then the degree of enhancement had slowed down after 1995. However, in the time period, the impacted extent of human activities gradually increased and finally covered almost entire coastlines in XB. In TB area, although the intensity of human activities was enhanced, the degree of enhancement slowed down from 1985 to 2015 and the impacted areas of human activates were concentrated in several coastal city areas. （3） The average area of landscape patches strongly disturbed by human activities in both XB and TB generally showed a trend of decreasing from 1985 to 2005. However, during the period of 2005 to 2015, the average patch area of landscapes disturbed by different degrees of human activities in XB changed differently, while in TB it almost did not change. （4） From 1985 to 2005, the indices of landscape diversity in various areas of human disturbance in XB gradually increased, while in TB, changes in indices of the landscape diversity varied. From 2005 to 2015, the changes in the intensity of human disturbance in both bay areas were from weak to strong, whereas the indices of landscape diversity in XB and TB increased first and then decreased. （5） The landscape fragmentation index in different human disturbance areas in both XB and TB gradually increased from 1985 to 2005, while from 2005 to 2015, in both bay areas, the landscape fragmentation index presented a decreasing trend.展开更多
TOPMODEL,a semi-distributed hydrological model,has been widely used.In the process of simulation of the model,Digital Elevation Model(DEM) is used to provide the input data,such as topographic index and distance to th...TOPMODEL,a semi-distributed hydrological model,has been widely used.In the process of simulation of the model,Digital Elevation Model(DEM) is used to provide the input data,such as topographic index and distance to the drainage outlet;thus DEM plays an important role in TOPMODEL.This study aims at examining the impacts of DEM uncertainty on the simulation results of TOPMODEL.In this paper,the effects were evaluated mainly from quantitative and qualitative aspects.Firstly,DEM uncertainty was simulated by using the Monte Carlo method,and for every DEM realization,the topographic index and distance to the drainage outlet were extracted.Secondly,the obtained topographic index and the distance to the drainage outlet were input to the TOPMODEL to simulate seven rain-storm-flood events,and four evaluation indices,such as Nash and Sutcliffe efficiency criterion(EFF),sum of squared residuals over all time steps(SSE),sum of squared log residuals over all time steps(SLE) and sum of absolute errors over all time steps(SAE) were recorded.Thirdly,these four evaluation indices were analyzed in statistical manner(minimum,maximum,range,standard deviation and mean value),and effect of DEM uncertainty on TOPMODEL was quantitatively analyzed.Finally,the simulated hydrographs from TOPMODEL using the original DEM and realizations of DEM were qualitatively evaluated under each flood cases.Results show that the effect of DEM uncertainty on TOPMODEL is inconsiderable and could be ignored in the model’s application.This can be explained by:1) TOPMODEL is not sensitive to the distribution of topographic index and distance to the drainage outlet;2) the distri-bution of topographic index and distance to the drainage outlet are slightly affected by DEM uncertainty.展开更多
Objective:To investigate the environmental and social aspects of poverty contributing to malaria incidence in Indonesia from 2016 to 2020.Methods:Random forest regression was used to analyse the independent variables ...Objective:To investigate the environmental and social aspects of poverty contributing to malaria incidence in Indonesia from 2016 to 2020.Methods:Random forest regression was used to analyse the independent variables contributing to malaria incidence.Environmental conditions were extracted from remotely sensed data,including vegetation,land temperature,soil moisture,precipitation,and elevation.In contrast,the social aspects of poverty were obtained from government statistical reports.Results:From 2016 to 2020,the contribution of each environmental and social aspect of poverty to malaria incidence fluctuated annually.Generally,the top three essential variables were people aged 15 years and above,experiencing poverty(variable importance/VI=32.0%),people experiencing poverty who work in the agricultural sector(VI=14.4%),and precipitation(VI=9.8%).It was followed by people experiencing poverty who are unemployed(VI=9.2%),land temperature(VI=5.2%),people experiencing poverty who have low education(VI=8.0%),soil moisture(VI=7.4%),elevation(VI=6.0%),and vegetation(VI=3.8%).Conclusions:Poverty and variables related to climate have become the crucial determinants of malaria in Indonesia.The government must strengthen malaria surveillance through climate change mitigation and adaptation programs and accelerate poverty alleviation programs to support malaria elimination.展开更多
In this article the approach was used to coherent assessment based on the intensity of air pollution sources impact on the impurity concentration at a few fixed points to monitor air quality. The numerical analogue ...In this article the approach was used to coherent assessment based on the intensity of air pollution sources impact on the impurity concentration at a few fixed points to monitor air quality. The numerical analogue of Duhamers theorem was used to describe processes of propagation of impurity in the atmosphere. Such approach allows you to count on essential increase of calculation accuracy based on mathematical models of reasonable complexity. The inverse problem of pollutants propagation in the atmosphere based on the measurements of the impurity concentration in stationary or mobile control points was solved by the sequential function approximation The solution was presented in the form of a digital filter.展开更多
Philip’s two-term infiltration equation has been widely used to infer soil saturated hydraulic conductivity(Ks),the accuracy of which is usually influenced by the size of infiltration rings and soil conditions.Previo...Philip’s two-term infiltration equation has been widely used to infer soil saturated hydraulic conductivity(Ks),the accuracy of which is usually influenced by the size of infiltration rings and soil conditions.Previous studies have primarily focused on exploring the ring-size dependence of Ks estimations under specific soil conditions(e.g.,soil isotropy and/or uniform initial water content).This study aimed to provide a comprehensive analysis by systematically considering eight heterogeneous and anisotropic soils with nonuniform initial water contents.Specifically,we examined the validity of Philip’s infiltration equation as well as the recently proposed two forms(i.e.,infiltration and time forms)of Parlange’s infiltration equation both theoretically and in practical applications of double-ring infiltration.Then the time form of Parlange’s equation was applied to infer Ks using double-ring infiltrometer measurements with different combinations of six inner ring diameters(10,20,40,80,120,and 200 cm)and three buffer index(defined as the ratio of the difference between inner and outer ring diameters to the outer ring diameter)values(0.20,0.33,and 0.50).For each infiltrometer set,20 stochastic Ks fields were randomly generated by adopting five standard deviation values(0.1,0.3,0.5,0.7,and 0.9).Furthermore,we investigated the effects of five horizontal correlation lengths(30,60,150,300,and 600 cm)on Ks estimations.The results demonstrated that Parlange’s equation,compared to Philip’s equation,was more universal in describing the cumulative infiltration relationship for the test soils.The combination of inner ring diameter and buffer index of 40 cm and 0.2,respectively,which satisfied most of the practical requirements for determining Ks in the Soil Water Infiltration Global(SWIG)database was optimal.When the horizontal correlation length exceeded a threshold(i.e.,150 cm in our study),the inner ring diameter was required to increase to 80 cm.Our findings contribute to accurate Ks estimations of different soils using double-ring infiltrometers.展开更多
Sloping farmland(SpF)is not only an important space for food production and supply in China’s hilly areas,but also a major source of soil erosion.Thus,it is important to achieve a healthy balance between regional foo...Sloping farmland(SpF)is not only an important space for food production and supply in China’s hilly areas,but also a major source of soil erosion.Thus,it is important to achieve a healthy balance between regional food security and environmental protection.Yangtze River Economic Belt(YREB),an important grain production base where SpF concentrated in China,is also faced with serious soil erosion.However,research at the macro scale on the spatiotemporal change of SpF and its driving forces in YREB is still lacking.To bridge the gap,we first analyzed the long-term evolution characteristics of SpF in 1069 counties in the YREB and then explored the driving mechanism of SpF changes during 1980-2020.Results showed that the SpF in the YREB continuously decreased during the study period,with a total area decreasing by 26,300 km2.SpF was primarily concentrated in the upper reaches of the YREB while SpF use dynamic degree varied significantly with the most active change in the lower reaches,reaching to a maximum of 0.324%.The spatial gravity of SpF distribution relocated 20.15 km towards the southwest.As for the driving factors,the socioeconomic factors contributed greater to SpF changes in the whole YREB and its subregions.The intensity of human activities is the most crucial,with factor contribution rate constantly above 0.76.The interactive detection revealed that the prevailing interaction format was primarily bi-enhanced,supplemented with nonlinear-enhanced,which amplified the role of different factors after interacting with them.The pair-wise interaction involving socioeconomic factors had a more potential effect on SpF changes compared to those between physical geography and locational factors.The influence of the intensity of human activities on SpF changes is greatly enhanced after interacting with any factor.It dominated SpF changes in the YREB and its interaction with GDP played an important role at all times.These findings can enlighten differential management strategies of SpF use and ecological conservation in the YREB.展开更多
Forests provide diverse co-benefits, including livelihoods enhancement, poverty alleviation, and biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services such as climate mitigation. Consequently, Ghana has embraced several gl...Forests provide diverse co-benefits, including livelihoods enhancement, poverty alleviation, and biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services such as climate mitigation. Consequently, Ghana has embraced several global, regional, national, and local forest policy interventions to safeguard its forest resources’ sustainable management. However, the forest policy interventions have not adequately addressed the co-benefits issues of forest resources leading to several forest illegalities that drive forest resources degradation and loss. These forest policies and interventions on the ground primarily favour carbon stocks enhancement and sequestration activities for carbon mitigation purposes compared to the benefits, access and rights that forest-dependent people and communities are supposed to derive from forest resources. These perceived injustices in the access and distribution of forest resources have culminated into all forms of forest illegalities driving Ghana’s forest resources into massive degradation and loss. Currently, Ghana is experiencing a 2% rate of annual deforestation and forest degradation, which translates into approximately 135<span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">,</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">00</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">0</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> ha/year of forest cover loss due to anthropogenic causes. Our review is based on relevant and critical forest documents, and scientific peer-reviewed papers on Ghana’s forest policy interventions and dynamics recently published. The information gathered enabled us to highlight the perceived injustices in the forest policy interventions and their effects on forest resources. Unjust forest resources sharing and distribution are critical drivers of forest resources degradation and loss. We thus offer lessons for remedying the unfair distribution and injustices to promote equitable forest resources rights and benefit access to local forest-dependent people. It is expected that this review will offer and assist forest policy, intervention spatial and other planners and designers to find a possible way forward to avoid nature degradation, including biodiversity loss, to resolve perceived injustices in the forestry sector, to use adequate all ecosystem services provided by forests as well as to promote local livelihood and sustainability.</span></span></span>展开更多
Any seafarer or mariner that uses the sea knows that navigation without correct charts is impossible and hazardous because nautical charts are the most essential and indispensable tools for vessels to sail safely at s...Any seafarer or mariner that uses the sea knows that navigation without correct charts is impossible and hazardous because nautical charts are the most essential and indispensable tools for vessels to sail safely at sea.For vessels to safely sail at sea,the seas and the oceans ought to be charted and this falls within the domain of hydrography.However,the seas cannot be charted effectively in the absence of the deployment of human resources and adequate tools like satellite and aerial imagery,survey boats and other equipment that will facilitate the hydrographic operations.The acquisition of data and information about the sea depths,nature of sea bed,waterways,navigational hazards and navigational objects among others,basically falls within the sphere of hydrography which is primarily known as survey at sea.The paper offers a review of geospatial technologies in hydrographic practice for enhanced safety of navigation at sea.The review is important to both the mariners,shipping industry and the government in order to explore the potentials provided by Geographic Information System,Remote Sensing,cloud GIS,big data GIS and Global Positioning System to enhance the practice of hydrography.The data and materials used for the review were obtained from literature in the internet and other published works.The paper looked at hydrography as a profession,roles of geospatial technologies in hydrographic practice,benefits of hydrography to national development and finally,the weaknesses of geospatial technologies in hydrographic practice were equally examined.展开更多
Humans rely on the sea for food and mineral resources;hence it is vital to their economic survival.Nations all throughout the world rely on the water for trade and commerce.This article looks at the present condition ...Humans rely on the sea for food and mineral resources;hence it is vital to their economic survival.Nations all throughout the world rely on the water for trade and commerce.This article looks at the present condition of marine security in the Gulf of Guinea.The Gulf of Guinea has a total shoreline of about 5,000 nautical miles and several natural harbours with dangerous weather.It has a significant crude oil reservoir,as well as fish and other natural resources.These traits provide huge prospects for marine trade and transportation,but the Gulf of Guinea is also riddled with maritime crimes of all types,including piracy and smuggling.Maritime piracy has presented a threat to coastal states’stability and economic viability all across the world,not only in Africa.The study examines sea piracy in general,the Geographic Information System,and the impact of maritime piracy on the world socioeconomic development using secondary data.It then goes on to provide a number of recommendations aimed at addressing the problems caused by maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea in order to improve maritime security.展开更多
Terrain can influence the spatial distribution of settlements. Studies on the terrain characteristics of settlements can help to understand the effects of the environment on human activities. This paper provides a qua...Terrain can influence the spatial distribution of settlements. Studies on the terrain characteristics of settlements can help to understand the effects of the environment on human activities. This paper provides a quantitative analysis of the relationship between settlements and topographical factors. A statistically significant sample of residential locations and ASTER GDEM V2 were used to investigate terrain traits and settlements distributions. We selected eight topographical factors and introduced a practical concept, distributive entropy, into assessing the aggregation extent of the settlements' spatial distribution. The study showed that topography varies within the study area, and distributive entropy indicates that settlements have distinctive distribution tendency in statistic approach. According to the results of this study, mountain inhabitants prefer to settle in valleys. Additionally, with distributive entropy, residential suitability was divided to three levels: suitable, normal, and unsuited. The results showed that suitable area is small in Sichuan Province, accounting for 8.2%～29.9%; however, unsuited area is large, accounting for 33%～63.3%.展开更多
With the increasing number of vehicles in large-and medium-sized cities challenges in urban traffic management, control, and road planning are being faced. Taxi GPS trajectory data is a novel data source that can be u...With the increasing number of vehicles in large-and medium-sized cities challenges in urban traffic management, control, and road planning are being faced. Taxi GPS trajectory data is a novel data source that can be used to study the potential dynamic traffic characteristics of urban roads, and thus identify locations that show a notable lack of road planning. Considering that road traffic characteristics on their own are insufficient for a comprehensive understanding of urban traffic, we develop a road traffic characteristic time series clustering model to analyze the relationship between urban road traffic characteristics and road grade based on existing taxi trajectory data. We select the main urban area of Nanjing as our study area and use the taxi trajectory data of a single month for evaluating our method. The experiments show that the clustering model exhibit good performance and can be successfully used for road traffic characteristic classification. Moreover, we analyze the correlation between traffic characteristics and road grade to identify road segments with planning designs that do not match the actual traffic demands.展开更多
Surface melt has great impacts on the Greenland Ice Sheet （GrlS） mass balance and thereby has become the focus of significant GrlS research in recent years. The production, transport, and release processes of surfac...Surface melt has great impacts on the Greenland Ice Sheet （GrlS） mass balance and thereby has become the focus of significant GrlS research in recent years. The production, transport, and release processes of surface meltwater are the keys to understanding the poten- tial impacts of the GrlS surface melt. These hydrological processes can elucidate the following scientific questions： How much melt- water is produced atop the GrlS？ What are the characteristics of the meltwater-formed supraglacial hydrological system？ How does the meltwater influence the GrlS motion？ The GrlS supraglacial hydrology has a number of key roles and yet continues to be poorly understood or documented. This paper summarizes the current understanding of the GrlS surface melt, emphasizing the three essential supraglacial hydrological processes： （1） meltwater production： surface melt modeling is an important approach to acquire surface melt information, and areas, depths, and volumes of supraglacial lakes extracted from remotely sensed imagery can also provide surface melt information; （2） meltwater transport： the spatial distributions of supraglacial lakes, supraglacial sarams, moulins, and crevasses demonstrate the characteristics of the supraglacial hydrological system, revealing the meltwater transport process; and （3） meltwater release： the release of meltwater into the englacial and the subglacial ice sheet has important but undetermined impacts on the GrlS motion. The correlation between surface runoff and the GrlS motion speed is employed to understand these influences.展开更多
基金Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences,No.XDA13010401
文摘As is well-known, Nansha Islands in the South China Sea(SCS) are of important strategic position and invaluable ecological value. Therefore, many attentions are paid to either the political and legal aspects of exposed features that matter in the maritime delimitation, or the physical and geographical characteristics of coral reefs that are the predominant structures of these islands. However, it seems that they consistently lose the connection of sciences and humanities in the research of Nansha Islands in the SCS. In this study, we carry out a combinative research, based on remote sensing data using satellite imagery analysis together with historical materials using literature investigation, so as to reconsider to the geographical characteristics of Nansha Islands from a standpoint of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS). After thoroughly appraising the statuses of these newly formed sand cays, several high tide features of Nansha Islands are identified. By means of the comparison of satellite images coupled with reference to nautical charting and sailing directions during different time periods, we can conclude that the statuses of these high tide features formed on reef platforms are relatively stable due to the growth of reef-building organisms although their migration patterns are subject to external disturbances, and hence the cursory judgment pursuant to the relevant provisions of the UNCLOS about whether a coral reef belongs to a low tide elevation only based on outdated references or ex parte evidences is not reliable. Moreover, it is accordingly justified to improve further development and perfection of the maritime legislation by eliminating such ambiguities with the growth of coral reefs and the evolution of sand cays being both taken into account.
基金funded by the Guangdong Major Project of Basic and Applied Basic Research(2021B0301030007)the Supplemental Funds for Major Scientific Research Projects of Beijing Normal University,Zhuhai(ZHPT2023013)+1 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(42301387)the Science and Technology Program of Guangdong(No.2024B1212070012)。
文摘The topographic factor(LS factor),derived from the multiplication of the slope length(L)and slope steepness(S)factors,is a vital parameter in soil erosion models.Generated from the digital elevation model(DEM),the LS factor always varies with the changing DEM resolution,i.e.,the LS factor scale effect.Previous studies have found the phenomenon of the LS factor scale effect,but the underlying causes of this phenomenon has not been well explored.Therefore,how the DEM resolution affects the LS factor and how the scale effect of the L and S factors influence the LS factor scale effect remains unclear.To address these problems,we collected 20 watersheds from the Guangdong Province with different topographic reliefs,and compared the corresponding L,S and LS factors at 10-m and 30-m resolution DEMs.Our results indicate that the S factor,heavily influenced by slope underestimation in coarse-resolution DEMs,makes a difference in the LS factor scale effect.In addition,the LS factor scale effect becomes less significant with increasing reliefs,suggesting the possibility of using 30-m DEM for LS calculation in rugged terrains.Our findings on the underlying mechanisms of the LS factor scale effect help to identify the uncertainty in the LS factor estimation,thereby enhancing the accuracy of soil erosion assessment,particularly in regions with different topographic characteristics and contribute to more effective soil conservation strategies and decision-making.
基金funded by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.XDB0950000)the NSFC(Grant No.42201155+2 种基金4240114742201137)the State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science and Frozen Soil Engineering(CSFSE-ZQ-2410).
文摘The Yellow River(YR),China’s second-longest river,remains understudied regarding its greenhouse gases(GHGs)emissions,particularly the impacts of urban drainage ditches and wastewater treatment facilities on regional GHGs dynamics.This study investigated methane(CH_(4))and carbon dioxide(CO_(2))concentrations,fluxes and stable carbon isotopes(δ^(13)C-CH_(4)and δ^(13)C-CO_(2))across six main stream,three ditches,and one wastewater treatment site along the upper Lanzhou section of the YR,spanning from the urban entrance(36.176°N,103.449°E)to the exit of Lanzhou city(36.056°N,104.020°E).Measured CH_(4)diffusion fluxes in mainstem sites ranged from 0.01 to 2.58 mmol·m^(−2)·d^(−1)(mean:0.36 mmol·m^(−2)·d^(−1)),while ebullitive fluxes(gas bubbles)ranged from 0.01 to 18.89 mmol·m^(−2)·d^(−1)(mean:0.90 mmol·m^(−2)·d^(−1)).CO_(2)diffusion fluxes varied between 9.16–92.80 mmol·m^(−2)·d^(−1)(averaged:39.11 mmol·m^(−2)·d^(−1))at these locations.Ebullition(bubble)fluxes accounted for 53.1%±22.4%(range:9.0%to 98.4%)to total CH_(4)emissions(diffusion plus ebullition),with peak fluxes occurring during summer,indicating its significance as a CH_(4)transport mechanism.Notably,both diffusion CH_(4)and CO_(2)fluxes and ebullitive CH_(4)rates at ditch sites substantially exceeded those in mainstream reaches.The lowest CH_(4)and highest CO_(2)concentrations were observed at a wastewater treatment site,likely resulting from the removal of high organic loads.Acetoclastic methanogenesis—the process converting acetate-derived methyl groups to CH_(4)—was identified as the dominant production pathway in both mainstream and ditch environments.CH_(4)and CO_(2)flux magnitudes in the upper YR(Lanzhou section)were comparable to those observed in subtropical Yangtze River tributaries.These results demonstrate that anthropogenic influences significantly enhance CO_(2)/CH_(4)emissions,and the lateral exports of dissolved carbon(DIC and DOC)in the main stream site was quantified.,which cannot be overlooked.The findings emphasize the critical need to account for pronounced spatiotemporal variations in arid-region GHG fluxes to improve basin-scale estimates for the YR.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40471081), the Innovation Programme ofChinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZCX3-SW-422), and the Canadian International Development Agency, Canada.
文摘By using soil erosion maps of four different time periods and a digital elevation model (DEM), in combination withthe remote sensing and GIS technologies, soil erosion dynamics in Xingguo County of Jiangxi Province in South Chinawere analyzed on both temporal and spatial scales in soils of different parent materials, altitudes and slopes. The resultsshowed that from 1958 to 2000 severe soil erosion was coming under control with a decreasing percentage of the land undersevere erosion. It was also found that the soils developed from Quaternary red clay, granite and purple shale were moresusceptible to soil erosion and that areas sitting between 200 to 500 m in altitude with a slope less than 3° or between7° to 20° where human activities were frequent remained to be zones where soil erosion was most likely to occur. Theseareas deserve special attention in monitoring and controlling.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.41271353
文摘How snow cover changes in response to climate change at different elevations within a mountainous basin is a less investigated question. In this study we focused on the vertical distribution of snow cover and its relation to elevation and temperature within different elevation zones of distinct climatology, taking the mountainous Manasi River Basin of Xinjiang, Northwest China as a case study. Data sources include MODIS 8-day snow product, MODIS land surface temperature(LST) data from 2001 to 2014, and in situ temperature data observed at three hydrological stations from 2001 to 2012. The results show that:(1) the vertical distribution of snow areal extent(SAE) is sensitive to elevation in low(<2100 m) and high altitude(>3200 m) regions and shows four different seasonal patterns, each pattern is well correspondent to the variation of temperature.(2) The correlation between vertical changes of the SAE and temperature is significant in all seasons except for winter.(3) The correlation between annual changes of the SAE and temperature decreases with increasing elevation, the negative correlation is significant in area below 4000 m.(4) The snow cover days(SCDs) and its long-term change show visible differences in different altitude range.(5) The long-term increasing trend of SCDs and decreasing trend of winter temperature have a strong vertical relation with elevation below 3600 m. The decreasing trend of SCDs is attributed to the increasing trend of summer temperature in the area above 3600 m.
基金The National High Technology Research and Development Program of China(863 Program)under contract No.2012AA12A406the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41471068,41171325,and J1103408+1 种基金the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University under contract No.NCET-12-0264the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions(PAPD)
文摘A detailed survey of the reefs in the Nansha Islands＇ sea that are of strategic importance is conducive to their future development. In this study, a total of 50 Landsat 8 operational land imager（OLI） images were used to analyze the geological features and spectral characteristics of the Nansha reefs. The exposed islands/sandbanks,reef flats and sub-tidal reefs were identified with the near-infrared band, the red and green bands, and the blue band, respectively. Based on the relationships among various characteristics and bands illustrated in the OLI images, the maximum between-cluster variance threshold algorithm（OTSU method） and the mathematical morphology were employed to extract characteristic parameters of the spatial geometry of the reefs from top to bottom, which were subsequently operated by a series of post-processing methods such as vectorization,simplification and topological analysis. Among the 132 standalone reefs and 16 atolls that are identified in the study, four reefs have yet to be named in the Standard Names of Various Islands in the South China Sea and the website Nansha Islands Online（http：//www.nansha.org/）. Another 24 ones are exposed to the atmosphere even during high tides. Taiping Island with an area of 0.57 km^2 represents the largest exposed geological feature. This study demonstrated the applicability of medium-resolution satellite images to derive the coral reef information effectively and thus provided information for the related departments that are responsible to manage the coast.An improved resolution of multispectral bands with the panchromatic band in higher spatial resolution（15 m for OLI image） is expected to provide an optimum satellite based approach to map marine habitats.
基金Under the auspices of Special Research Fund of the Ministry of Land and Resources for the Non-Profit Sector(No201411014-03)National Key Technology Research and Development Program of China(No.2012BAH28B04)
文摘The hallmark of development in the Yangtze River Delta(YRD) of East China has been sprawling urbanization. However, air pollution is a significant problem in these urban areas. In this paper, we investigated and analyzed the air pollution index(API) in four cities(Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Ningbo) in the YRD from 2001 to 2012. We attempted to empirically examine the relationship between meteorological factors and air quality in the urban areas of the YRD. According to the monitoring data, the API in Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou slightly declined and that in Ningbo increased over the study period. We analyzed the inter-annual, seasonal, and monthly variations of API, from which we found that the air quality had different temporal changes in the four cities. It was indicated that air quality was poor in winter and spring and best in summer. Furthermore, different weather conditions affected air quality level. The wind direction was considered as an important and influential factor to air pollution, which has an impact on the accumulating or cleaning processes of pollutants. The air quality was influenced by the different wind directions that varied with seasons and cities.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.41471068,41171325,41230751,and J1103408)the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University(Grant No.NCET-12-0264)+2 种基金the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universitiesthe Priority Academic Program Development of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions(PAPD)the National Key Project of Scientific and Technical Supporting Programs funded by the Ministry of Science&Technology of China(Grant No.2012BAH28B04)
文摘Jiangsu has the most abundant tidal flat resources among China＇s coastal provinces. To ease the conflict between the growing population and shrinking usable land and to promote regional sustainable development, large-scale coastal reclamation development activities have been performed in Jiangsu Province since 1949. The present study has integrated multi-source remote sensing images during 1974 to 2012 by using a Multi-point Fast Marching Method （MFMM） to extract the Jiangsu coastal reclamation areas for different time periods. The temporal and spatial patterns of the extent and elevation of the reclamation areas were analysed in order to determine the unused potential for future reclamation. It will provide information necessary to support the development and construction of tidal flats in Jiangsu. Results show that： （1） the reclaimed tidal fiats along the Jiangsu coast cover more than 19.86×10^4 hm^2, of which 13.97×10^4 hm^2 is located in Yancheng, 4.84×10^4 hm^2 in Nantong, and 1.05×10^4 hm^2 in Lianyungang; （2） the average elevation of the reclaimed Jiangsu tidal flats has gradually decreased over the last 40 years, while those in Dongtai and Rudong have showed particularly accelerated decrease since the 1990s; and （3） in 2012, very few unused tidal flats two meters above the sea level are left along the Jiangsu coast, and mainly concentrated in Yancheng. As there are still reserving some coastal land resources between 0-2 m, providing us with a potential for future development. All of these findings may be useful for researchers and local authorities for the development and utilization of tidal flat resources in Jiangsu.
基金NSFC-Zhejiang Joint Fund for the Integration of Industrialization and Informatization,No.U1609203Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province,No.LY16G030014The K.C.Wong Magna Fund of Ningbo University and Natural Science Foundation of Ningbo City,No.2017A610300
文摘Using multitemporal Landsat TM/OLI images at a 10-year interval, in this study, we （1） extracted information of spatial location, length, and sinuosity of coastline and landscape configuration, diversity and fragmentation in the bay areas of Xiangshan Bay （XB）, China and Tampa Bay （TB）, USA from 1985 to 2015; （2） constructed indices of artificial coastlines and human disturbance on bay area landscapes; and （3） explored and discussed the impacts of human activities on changes of coastlines and landscape types in the two bay areas. Our analysis results demonstrate the following five points. （1） During the past 30 years, the lengths of natural coastline in XB and TB shrank, while the lengths of their artificial coastline increased first and then maintained stable. Since there were different influences of human activities on coastlines and landscape types between the two bay areas, XB experienced dramatic changes in parts of coastline geomorphologies and continuous decrease of coastline sinuosity, while, in TB, there was a little change in coastline geomorphologies and its coastline sinuosity was almost unchanged. （2） The intensity of human activities in XB was continuously enhanced from 1985 to 1995, and then the degree of enhancement had slowed down after 1995. However, in the time period, the impacted extent of human activities gradually increased and finally covered almost entire coastlines in XB. In TB area, although the intensity of human activities was enhanced, the degree of enhancement slowed down from 1985 to 2015 and the impacted areas of human activates were concentrated in several coastal city areas. （3） The average area of landscape patches strongly disturbed by human activities in both XB and TB generally showed a trend of decreasing from 1985 to 2005. However, during the period of 2005 to 2015, the average patch area of landscapes disturbed by different degrees of human activities in XB changed differently, while in TB it almost did not change. （4） From 1985 to 2005, the indices of landscape diversity in various areas of human disturbance in XB gradually increased, while in TB, changes in indices of the landscape diversity varied. From 2005 to 2015, the changes in the intensity of human disturbance in both bay areas were from weak to strong, whereas the indices of landscape diversity in XB and TB increased first and then decreased. （5） The landscape fragmentation index in different human disturbance areas in both XB and TB gradually increased from 1985 to 2005, while from 2005 to 2015, in both bay areas, the landscape fragmentation index presented a decreasing trend.
基金Under the auspices of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40171015)
文摘TOPMODEL,a semi-distributed hydrological model,has been widely used.In the process of simulation of the model,Digital Elevation Model(DEM) is used to provide the input data,such as topographic index and distance to the drainage outlet;thus DEM plays an important role in TOPMODEL.This study aims at examining the impacts of DEM uncertainty on the simulation results of TOPMODEL.In this paper,the effects were evaluated mainly from quantitative and qualitative aspects.Firstly,DEM uncertainty was simulated by using the Monte Carlo method,and for every DEM realization,the topographic index and distance to the drainage outlet were extracted.Secondly,the obtained topographic index and the distance to the drainage outlet were input to the TOPMODEL to simulate seven rain-storm-flood events,and four evaluation indices,such as Nash and Sutcliffe efficiency criterion(EFF),sum of squared residuals over all time steps(SSE),sum of squared log residuals over all time steps(SLE) and sum of absolute errors over all time steps(SAE) were recorded.Thirdly,these four evaluation indices were analyzed in statistical manner(minimum,maximum,range,standard deviation and mean value),and effect of DEM uncertainty on TOPMODEL was quantitatively analyzed.Finally,the simulated hydrographs from TOPMODEL using the original DEM and realizations of DEM were qualitatively evaluated under each flood cases.Results show that the effect of DEM uncertainty on TOPMODEL is inconsiderable and could be ignored in the model’s application.This can be explained by:1) TOPMODEL is not sensitive to the distribution of topographic index and distance to the drainage outlet;2) the distri-bution of topographic index and distance to the drainage outlet are slightly affected by DEM uncertainty.
文摘Objective:To investigate the environmental and social aspects of poverty contributing to malaria incidence in Indonesia from 2016 to 2020.Methods:Random forest regression was used to analyse the independent variables contributing to malaria incidence.Environmental conditions were extracted from remotely sensed data,including vegetation,land temperature,soil moisture,precipitation,and elevation.In contrast,the social aspects of poverty were obtained from government statistical reports.Results:From 2016 to 2020,the contribution of each environmental and social aspect of poverty to malaria incidence fluctuated annually.Generally,the top three essential variables were people aged 15 years and above,experiencing poverty(variable importance/VI=32.0%),people experiencing poverty who work in the agricultural sector(VI=14.4%),and precipitation(VI=9.8%).It was followed by people experiencing poverty who are unemployed(VI=9.2%),land temperature(VI=5.2%),people experiencing poverty who have low education(VI=8.0%),soil moisture(VI=7.4%),elevation(VI=6.0%),and vegetation(VI=3.8%).Conclusions:Poverty and variables related to climate have become the crucial determinants of malaria in Indonesia.The government must strengthen malaria surveillance through climate change mitigation and adaptation programs and accelerate poverty alleviation programs to support malaria elimination.
文摘In this article the approach was used to coherent assessment based on the intensity of air pollution sources impact on the impurity concentration at a few fixed points to monitor air quality. The numerical analogue of Duhamers theorem was used to describe processes of propagation of impurity in the atmosphere. Such approach allows you to count on essential increase of calculation accuracy based on mathematical models of reasonable complexity. The inverse problem of pollutants propagation in the atmosphere based on the measurements of the impurity concentration in stationary or mobile control points was solved by the sequential function approximation The solution was presented in the form of a digital filter.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.42107066 and 42007004)the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province,China(No.BK20201105)。
文摘Philip’s two-term infiltration equation has been widely used to infer soil saturated hydraulic conductivity(Ks),the accuracy of which is usually influenced by the size of infiltration rings and soil conditions.Previous studies have primarily focused on exploring the ring-size dependence of Ks estimations under specific soil conditions(e.g.,soil isotropy and/or uniform initial water content).This study aimed to provide a comprehensive analysis by systematically considering eight heterogeneous and anisotropic soils with nonuniform initial water contents.Specifically,we examined the validity of Philip’s infiltration equation as well as the recently proposed two forms(i.e.,infiltration and time forms)of Parlange’s infiltration equation both theoretically and in practical applications of double-ring infiltration.Then the time form of Parlange’s equation was applied to infer Ks using double-ring infiltrometer measurements with different combinations of six inner ring diameters(10,20,40,80,120,and 200 cm)and three buffer index(defined as the ratio of the difference between inner and outer ring diameters to the outer ring diameter)values(0.20,0.33,and 0.50).For each infiltrometer set,20 stochastic Ks fields were randomly generated by adopting five standard deviation values(0.1,0.3,0.5,0.7,and 0.9).Furthermore,we investigated the effects of five horizontal correlation lengths(30,60,150,300,and 600 cm)on Ks estimations.The results demonstrated that Parlange’s equation,compared to Philip’s equation,was more universal in describing the cumulative infiltration relationship for the test soils.The combination of inner ring diameter and buffer index of 40 cm and 0.2,respectively,which satisfied most of the practical requirements for determining Ks in the Soil Water Infiltration Global(SWIG)database was optimal.When the horizontal correlation length exceeded a threshold(i.e.,150 cm in our study),the inner ring diameter was required to increase to 80 cm.Our findings contribute to accurate Ks estimations of different soils using double-ring infiltrometers.
基金funded by the grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(42230113,42101415)Ministry of Education of Humanities and Social Science Project(21YJCZH181)supported by the Key Laboratory of Natural Resources Monitoring and Supervision in Southern Hilly Region,Ministry of Natural Resources(NRMSSHR2023Y02).
文摘Sloping farmland(SpF)is not only an important space for food production and supply in China’s hilly areas,but also a major source of soil erosion.Thus,it is important to achieve a healthy balance between regional food security and environmental protection.Yangtze River Economic Belt(YREB),an important grain production base where SpF concentrated in China,is also faced with serious soil erosion.However,research at the macro scale on the spatiotemporal change of SpF and its driving forces in YREB is still lacking.To bridge the gap,we first analyzed the long-term evolution characteristics of SpF in 1069 counties in the YREB and then explored the driving mechanism of SpF changes during 1980-2020.Results showed that the SpF in the YREB continuously decreased during the study period,with a total area decreasing by 26,300 km2.SpF was primarily concentrated in the upper reaches of the YREB while SpF use dynamic degree varied significantly with the most active change in the lower reaches,reaching to a maximum of 0.324%.The spatial gravity of SpF distribution relocated 20.15 km towards the southwest.As for the driving factors,the socioeconomic factors contributed greater to SpF changes in the whole YREB and its subregions.The intensity of human activities is the most crucial,with factor contribution rate constantly above 0.76.The interactive detection revealed that the prevailing interaction format was primarily bi-enhanced,supplemented with nonlinear-enhanced,which amplified the role of different factors after interacting with them.The pair-wise interaction involving socioeconomic factors had a more potential effect on SpF changes compared to those between physical geography and locational factors.The influence of the intensity of human activities on SpF changes is greatly enhanced after interacting with any factor.It dominated SpF changes in the YREB and its interaction with GDP played an important role at all times.These findings can enlighten differential management strategies of SpF use and ecological conservation in the YREB.
文摘Forests provide diverse co-benefits, including livelihoods enhancement, poverty alleviation, and biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services such as climate mitigation. Consequently, Ghana has embraced several global, regional, national, and local forest policy interventions to safeguard its forest resources’ sustainable management. However, the forest policy interventions have not adequately addressed the co-benefits issues of forest resources leading to several forest illegalities that drive forest resources degradation and loss. These forest policies and interventions on the ground primarily favour carbon stocks enhancement and sequestration activities for carbon mitigation purposes compared to the benefits, access and rights that forest-dependent people and communities are supposed to derive from forest resources. These perceived injustices in the access and distribution of forest resources have culminated into all forms of forest illegalities driving Ghana’s forest resources into massive degradation and loss. Currently, Ghana is experiencing a 2% rate of annual deforestation and forest degradation, which translates into approximately 135<span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">,</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">00</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">0</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> ha/year of forest cover loss due to anthropogenic causes. Our review is based on relevant and critical forest documents, and scientific peer-reviewed papers on Ghana’s forest policy interventions and dynamics recently published. The information gathered enabled us to highlight the perceived injustices in the forest policy interventions and their effects on forest resources. Unjust forest resources sharing and distribution are critical drivers of forest resources degradation and loss. We thus offer lessons for remedying the unfair distribution and injustices to promote equitable forest resources rights and benefit access to local forest-dependent people. It is expected that this review will offer and assist forest policy, intervention spatial and other planners and designers to find a possible way forward to avoid nature degradation, including biodiversity loss, to resolve perceived injustices in the forestry sector, to use adequate all ecosystem services provided by forests as well as to promote local livelihood and sustainability.</span></span></span>
文摘Any seafarer or mariner that uses the sea knows that navigation without correct charts is impossible and hazardous because nautical charts are the most essential and indispensable tools for vessels to sail safely at sea.For vessels to safely sail at sea,the seas and the oceans ought to be charted and this falls within the domain of hydrography.However,the seas cannot be charted effectively in the absence of the deployment of human resources and adequate tools like satellite and aerial imagery,survey boats and other equipment that will facilitate the hydrographic operations.The acquisition of data and information about the sea depths,nature of sea bed,waterways,navigational hazards and navigational objects among others,basically falls within the sphere of hydrography which is primarily known as survey at sea.The paper offers a review of geospatial technologies in hydrographic practice for enhanced safety of navigation at sea.The review is important to both the mariners,shipping industry and the government in order to explore the potentials provided by Geographic Information System,Remote Sensing,cloud GIS,big data GIS and Global Positioning System to enhance the practice of hydrography.The data and materials used for the review were obtained from literature in the internet and other published works.The paper looked at hydrography as a profession,roles of geospatial technologies in hydrographic practice,benefits of hydrography to national development and finally,the weaknesses of geospatial technologies in hydrographic practice were equally examined.
文摘Humans rely on the sea for food and mineral resources;hence it is vital to their economic survival.Nations all throughout the world rely on the water for trade and commerce.This article looks at the present condition of marine security in the Gulf of Guinea.The Gulf of Guinea has a total shoreline of about 5,000 nautical miles and several natural harbours with dangerous weather.It has a significant crude oil reservoir,as well as fish and other natural resources.These traits provide huge prospects for marine trade and transportation,but the Gulf of Guinea is also riddled with maritime crimes of all types,including piracy and smuggling.Maritime piracy has presented a threat to coastal states’stability and economic viability all across the world,not only in Africa.The study examines sea piracy in general,the Geographic Information System,and the impact of maritime piracy on the world socioeconomic development using secondary data.It then goes on to provide a number of recommendations aimed at addressing the problems caused by maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea in order to improve maritime security.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.41871294)
文摘Terrain can influence the spatial distribution of settlements. Studies on the terrain characteristics of settlements can help to understand the effects of the environment on human activities. This paper provides a quantitative analysis of the relationship between settlements and topographical factors. A statistically significant sample of residential locations and ASTER GDEM V2 were used to investigate terrain traits and settlements distributions. We selected eight topographical factors and introduced a practical concept, distributive entropy, into assessing the aggregation extent of the settlements' spatial distribution. The study showed that topography varies within the study area, and distributive entropy indicates that settlements have distinctive distribution tendency in statistic approach. According to the results of this study, mountain inhabitants prefer to settle in valleys. Additionally, with distributive entropy, residential suitability was divided to three levels: suitable, normal, and unsuited. The results showed that suitable area is small in Sichuan Province, accounting for 8.2%～29.9%; however, unsuited area is large, accounting for 33%～63.3%.
基金Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.41571377)
文摘With the increasing number of vehicles in large-and medium-sized cities challenges in urban traffic management, control, and road planning are being faced. Taxi GPS trajectory data is a novel data source that can be used to study the potential dynamic traffic characteristics of urban roads, and thus identify locations that show a notable lack of road planning. Considering that road traffic characteristics on their own are insufficient for a comprehensive understanding of urban traffic, we develop a road traffic characteristic time series clustering model to analyze the relationship between urban road traffic characteristics and road grade based on existing taxi trajectory data. We select the main urban area of Nanjing as our study area and use the taxi trajectory data of a single month for evaluating our method. The experiments show that the clustering model exhibit good performance and can be successfully used for road traffic characteristic classification. Moreover, we analyze the correlation between traffic characteristics and road grade to identify road segments with planning designs that do not match the actual traffic demands.
基金supported by the Scholarship Award for Excellent Doctoral Student granted by Ministry of Education and the Graduate Education Innovation Project of Jiangsu Province(CXLX12-0039)
文摘Surface melt has great impacts on the Greenland Ice Sheet （GrlS） mass balance and thereby has become the focus of significant GrlS research in recent years. The production, transport, and release processes of surface meltwater are the keys to understanding the poten- tial impacts of the GrlS surface melt. These hydrological processes can elucidate the following scientific questions： How much melt- water is produced atop the GrlS？ What are the characteristics of the meltwater-formed supraglacial hydrological system？ How does the meltwater influence the GrlS motion？ The GrlS supraglacial hydrology has a number of key roles and yet continues to be poorly understood or documented. This paper summarizes the current understanding of the GrlS surface melt, emphasizing the three essential supraglacial hydrological processes： （1） meltwater production： surface melt modeling is an important approach to acquire surface melt information, and areas, depths, and volumes of supraglacial lakes extracted from remotely sensed imagery can also provide surface melt information; （2） meltwater transport： the spatial distributions of supraglacial lakes, supraglacial sarams, moulins, and crevasses demonstrate the characteristics of the supraglacial hydrological system, revealing the meltwater transport process; and （3） meltwater release： the release of meltwater into the englacial and the subglacial ice sheet has important but undetermined impacts on the GrlS motion. The correlation between surface runoff and the GrlS motion speed is employed to understand these influences.
